Goodyear, Michelin temporarily end talks with USWA

(May 17)—Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.´s main global competitors temporarily adjourned contract talks with the United Steelworkers the week of May 8, allowing the union to focus solely on its ``target´´ company for 2000 tire industry master contract negotiations. The union announced April 7 it was targeting Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone/Firestone to establish a bargaining pattern for the tire industry in 2000. The USWA and Akron-based Goodyear temporarily adjourned their midterm reopener talks, which have been held since mid-March in Cincinnati, on May 10. Greenville, S.C.-based tire maker Michelin North America Inc. and the USWA have been bargaining since March 15 in Knoxville, Tenn., over the company´s three unionized Uniroyal Goodrich plants.